Electronic devices are made up of a variety of logic components including, for example, buffers, flip-flops, adders and multipliers. These components have a variety of characteristics including size, speed of operation and power consumption. In general, a designer will select components for a given application based on the requirements of that application. For example, a designer may need to use certain high speed components in a high speed application even though these components have other characteristics (e.g., high power consumption) that are undesirable.
In many applications, it is desirable to reduce the size of the electronic devices used in the applications. For example, smaller electronic devices tend to be more convenient to use. Accordingly, one trend in component design is to reduce the size of the individual components that make up the electronic devices.
Reductions in the size of components may be particularly advantageous in electronic devices used in high speed applications. In high speed applications relatively fast signals are routed between components. In general, however, these signals will tend to degrade as the distance the signal travels increases. Since smaller components may provide for smaller distances between components, devices with smaller components may have better signal quality compared to other devices.
In many applications, it is desirable to reduce the power consumption of a given electronic device. A reduction in power consumption may have many beneficial effects. For example, smaller power supplies may be used with devices that consume less power. This may result in a reduction in the size of the entire electronic system. In portable electronic devices, reduced power consumption may result in longer battery life. Moreover, reduced power consumption tends to reduce the heat generated by the electronic device. It is desirable to reduce the heat generated in an electronic device because heat tends to adversely affect the operation of electronic devices. Accordingly, one trend in component design is to reduce the power consumption of the individual components that make up a given electronic device.
In view of the above, a need exists for improved components such as those used in electronic devices, particularly in high speed applications such as communications receivers.